


You're a Harmony to the Melody (That's Echoing Inside My Head)

by fangirl_in_a_trenchcoat



Series: Two Worlds Collide When I'm With You [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: A little bit of angst, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, everyone's a music major, except for Alex and Carrie who are dancers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29983692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_in_a_trenchcoat/pseuds/fangirl_in_a_trenchcoat
Summary: She was walking down the hallway when she heard a violin through one of the doors. It was slightly ajar so the sound carried on better and Julie easily recognized The Phantom of the Opera. She was about to keep walking, it wasn’t unusual for students to book the rooms to practice, when the tempo changed completely, speeding up and suddenly there were drums and a guitar in the mix.Julie was momentarily transfixed by the sound. It was beautiful and so different from what she’d expect. So upbeat and full of passion, Julie couldn’t help but stay stuck in her place. She took a step forward to look inside, not able to help herself, only to see Luke Patterson moving his body around as he hit the high notes Christine was supposed to be singing for the Phantom with his bow.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Flynn & Julie Molina, Flynn/Carrie Wilson (Background), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: Two Worlds Collide When I'm With You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2208267
Comments: 1
Kudos: 50





	You're a Harmony to the Melody (That's Echoing Inside My Head)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I am running out of jatp song lyrics to use as fanfic titles so I decided to bring in hsm😂
> 
> Also, for the phantom of the opera violin cover I’m totally thinking of Lindsey Stirling's cover - if you haven’t heard it you should, it’s incredible!
> 
> Enjoy☺️

Julie brought her playing to an end and even though she knew it was coming, she was still startled when she heard the applause. She had a habit of losing herself in the music every time she played, lost in her own little world.

She smiled slightly as she hurried to get back to her seat next to Flynn, letting Nick go up next.

"You killed it," Flynn whispered to her.

"Thanks." Julie smiled back.

Truth was, Julie was worried about a lot of her finals, but she had music composition down. She’d spent her whole life writing music and with her freshman year of college coming to an end, she could say with confidence she’d learned so much and actually improved. Yeah, she had that down.

The rest of the students went ahead, each of them performing their pieces for Mrs Harrison and the rest of the class. Julie was elated to be among so many people who actually loved music and worked with each other, bouncing off ideas, creating and pushing each other to become better.

She'd been playing the piano ever since she was old enough to actually understand the music sheets in front of her and she hadn’t given it up up until she'd finally graduated. She had started out wanting to be just like her mom who - according to five year old Julie - was the best piano player ever. The singing had come later. But she didn’t really do that anymore...

Fast forward many years later, she’d gotten into a good college studying the one thing she was passionate about, music. She was playing the piano and she was writing songs and she was dabbling in other instruments here and there and everything was great, really.

And sure, she had singing classes coming next semester, but there was a plan. She was going to blend into the background and make sure her voice got lost in the crowd. Her prime reasons for being there were piano and writing, she just had to focus on those and everything would be fine.

Soon enough the performances were over and they were all getting ready to leave. Julie had one more final on Friday and then freedom for about three months until their sophomore year started. She loved her classes but she really needed the exams to be over like right now so she could finally relax.

"You’re coming home?" Julie asked Flynn as she slung her bag over her shoulder. They’d gotten an apartment together as soon as they’d gotten accepted, eager to finally be roommates after talking and dreaming about it for so long.

"Sorry, babe, got a date," she said with a grin. Flynn had met Carrie soon after they’d started there, her being a dance major. Julie had endured a couple of weeks of Flynn complaining about a random girl she’d come across who thought she was better than everyone and then one week later they were suddenly going on a date. Julie wasn’t sure how that had come to be, but sure, why not? She had met Carrie and yeah, she could be intense sometimes, but overall she was a nice girl.

"I’ll see you later?" Flynn asked as they split up, her heading towards the dance classes.

"Yeah, I’ll be the one hogging the couch and inhaling takeout," Julie said with a smile.

"Sounds like a plan," Flynn called out as she disappeared around the corner.

Julie chuckled as she shook her head, walking away. There weren’t many students around, most of them studying or being lucky and having finished with exams. Julie had three days to make sure she was ready for the last one and she was determined not to freak out about it, although that was bound to happen the day before.

But for now she was ordering chinese.

She was walking down the hallway when she heard a violin through one of the doors. It was slightly ajar so the sound carried on better and Julie easily recognized The Phantom of the Opera. She was about to keep walking, it wasn’t unusual for students to book the rooms to practice, when the tempo changed completely, speeding up and suddenly there were drums and a guitar in the mix.

Julie was momentarily transfixed by the sound. She loved the violin, had even taken a stab at it herself but the sound only made her wince. She was aware it took a while for a beginner to sound decent and so much longer to actually sound good, but she hadn’t had the patience for that.

And this was just as beautiful and so different from what she’d expect. So upbeat and full of passion, Julie couldn’t help but stay stuck in her place. She took a step forward to look inside, not able to help herself, only to see Luke Patterson moving his body around as he hit the high notes Christine was supposed to be singing for the Phantom with his bow.

Luke was a year older than her and usually the talk of the town around school. He was the son of the headmistress and even though that could have brought a lot of negative comments about favoritism and unfairness, it was really hard to go there after you’d heard him play. He was mastering the violin, although Julie was pretty sure she’d seen him carry around a guitar sometimes - not that it was weird, many students were branching out other than their original instrument.

Behind the drums was Alex Mercer whom she occasionally saw in the music area of the school since he was a dance major like Carrie. They’d actually exchanged a few words here and there because of her and she'd learned that he did have a few music classes too. Luke and Alex were the _it_ couple for two months last semester until they'd apparently broken up - Julie wasn’t one hundred percent sure since they were still practically seen together all the time - but rumors were spreading around like fire and many people had tried approaching Luke. Julie didn’t know whether they’d been successful.

And then on Luke's right, with a guitar hanging over his shoulder, was Reggie Peters. Julie had actually properly met Reggie during her second semester. He mainly played the bass, but he’d been dabbling with the guitar for a while now. She’d been at the library one day, studying for a history of music exam and freaking out about forgetting everything and having so little time to get ready when he’d noticed her from a table over and asked if she needed any help. Julie had been at least sixty percent delirious by that point and she’d almost hugged him instead of a simple _yes_. Reggie was the human equivalent of a puppy, so kind, helping a freshman who was losing her mind over the so many different names and dates. They’d greet each other in the hallways and had hung out around school a few times, he was a genuinely nice guy.

She was so taken away by the melody she forgot to move away when it ended. Just as the violin faded out, the guys still vibrating with energy, Luke talking about chords and rhythm, Reggie turned around and noticed her standing by the door.

"Oh, Julie! Hi!" He waved at her with a smile, moving his hair away from his face. Alex's head snapped up as well, while Luke turned around to see who was there.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude," she said, "but this was beautiful."

"Thank you," Luke said with a grin, obviously still riding the high from their playing. "I’m Luke by the way."

"Julie," she said even though Reggie had called her by name.

"Hey." Alex smiled at her as well.

"Do you all know each other?" Luke asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at them.

"Crazy that we know other people in the school too," Alex said with a smirk.

"We met at the library," Reggie said, taking his guitar off and leaving it on a stand.

"Yeah, I was losing hope in my classes and Reggie helped me not quit everything," she said with a nod.

"Nah, you had it, you just needed a little help," Reggie said.

"I was two seconds away from bursting out crying," Julie said.

"I feel that in my soul," Alex said before turning to Luke, "she’s also Flynn's best friend."

"Oh, you’re _that_ Julie!" Luke said, his whole face effortlessly lighting up again. "Flynn says you have a gift with writing."

"Flynn likes to exaggerate," Julie said, rolling her eyes.

"You don’t write?" Luke tilted his head.

"Oh no, I do, _a lot_ ," she said with a chuckle. "I just haven’t really had anyone to try the songs out, see if they actually do work," she added, shrugging.

"You don’t sing?" Alex asked, his brows furrowing.

"No..." Julie shook her head with an awkward chuckle. "Not really my forte."

"Well, you’re definitely in the right place if you're looking for singers," Reggie said. "You’re done with finals?"

"One last on Friday and then done," Julie said. "Just finished with composition."

"Oh, wait, your instrument's the piano, right?" Luke said, suddenly excited.

"Yeah?" Julie said uncertain of where this was going.

"Okay, okay, you said you liked the arrangement before," he said as he moved over to one of the chairs in the back and grabbed a stack of papers, "but we're kind of missing something?" He walked up to her, holding the top few pages out to her with a smile.

"You want me to play with you?" Julie asked in disbelief. The three of them were friends, constantly together in school and campus - not that she thought they were snobs or anything - but the way Luke was looking at her like she was the best thing that had happened to him today had kind of thrown her off.

"If you don’t have anything better to do," he said.

"I mean I was planning on procrastinating for at least a couple of hours, so not really, no," Julie said with a smile as she took the music sheets from his hands and looked them over. She was familiar with the melody had even tried it out a couple of times herself - it just didn’t sound right without an actual church organ - and she could recognize a couple of changes here and there.

"Okay," she said with a smile. Luke perked up at her answer, grabbing his bow again as Julie made her way to the keyboard next to Reggie.

She had to be honest, this sounded better than chinese and Netflix.

* * *

"Look alive, Jules," Flynn nudged her with her shoulder as they took a seat at the bar.

"I didn’t sleep last night," Julie said, stifling a yawn. "We could have done this tomorrow."

"No, because the live is today," Flynn said, rolling her eyes.

Julie grabbed her coke from the bar hoping it’d be enough to keep her awake, the stamp indicating she was underaged sparkling on her hand.

They had successfully finished their last final today and were now free to do as they pleased for the rest of the summer. First order of business though had come from Carrie. She’d invited Julie and Flynn on a live all the way across town to listen to a band she knew that was supposed to be amazing. It wasn’t like Julie didn’t want to be there, but she _had_ freaked out last night and gotten about three hours of sleep which was only now catching up with her.

No, she loved music, she could push through for its sake.

Carrie came over to them, kissing Flynn and sitting beside her. "Okay, so, full disclaimer, I didn’t tell you everything, but the guys said I should invite you so... whatever you see here tonight just don’t share it with anyone else."

Flynn and Julie stared at her with equal looks of confusion. "What have we walked into?" Julie asked.

"No, relax," she said with a chuckle, "its just that this band has been a good kept secret for a while now and we’re trying to keep it that way."

Julie was about to ask what that meant when the stage on the other side of the club lit up and said band came out halting Julie's thought process.

Yeah, okay, she now had about twenty six more questions.

Luke, Reggie and Alex were standing there, playing some rock song she’d never heard before and was pretty certain was one hundred percent original. Alex was behind the drums, Reggie had his bass and Luke had switched to an electric guitar. They were all high on energy, vibrating on stage while Luke was singing his heart out on the microphone.

Julie was once again transfixed for a completely different reason. Or maybe it was the same the more that she thought about it. Yes, Luke was definitely not playing a violin and this was definitely not the medley of one of the most famous musicals of all time, but his passion remained the same.

The singing only added to it, making Luke shine even brighter at the center of the stage. Alex and Reggie seemed to be in their element as well, both rocking out on their respective instruments. Julie found herself forgetting she was tired in the first place and getting up alongside Flynn and Carrie so she could move to the music.

They kept going through their set, every song hitting home. Julie subconsciously found herself thinking of ways to improve certain parts - not that she was going to say anything unless specifically asked - but they were still pretty damn good. She couldn’t understand why this was supposed to be a secret. They could easily build up a following and go ahead with it. Wasn’t that what they - at least Luke and Reggie - were studying for?

The songs came to an end far too soon for Julie's liking although when she checked her phone she realized it’d been over an hour. She’d had fun playing with them a few days ago and Luke had insisted they do it again and now she was too intrigued to not try and spend more time with them.

"Come on," Carrie said waving them with her as they navigated through the crowd and to the back of the room. She said something to a guy who was standing in front of a door, pointing at Julie and Flynn as well and he let them go through. They walked down a hallway coming to a stop between two doors and Carrie knocked on the one on their right.

It barely took a second before the door was swung open and they were greeted by three hyperactive boys who couldn’t stand still.

"Hi!" They pulled them inside, each of them talking over the other.

"That was just- wow," Julie said with a smile.

"Unexpected, I think is the word," Flynn added. "Not that we’re gonna say anything but why aren’t you boasting about this all around school?"

"Because that would defy the point of the secret band," Luke said, still grinning. "Did you like it? Did you love it? I think there are some issues with _Bright_ , something's still not sitting right with me..."

"Dude, you were great, everyone loved you," Carrie said.

"This is easily the biggest gig we’ve ever had," Reggie said pacing up and down, his hands moving around wildly.

"And finals are over and the year is done and we have another gig planned for next week out of town," Alex continued.

Julie smiled, the excitement in the room contagious. Seeing them up there just playing, singing and having fun... She'd dreamt about that for a long time. Not that she didn’t love playing piano and writing, she could easily see herself making a living out of that, she just really missed singing sometimes. And she’d tried to get into it again. It usually ended in tears so she’d stopped it altogether.

The eventually went back outside, mixing with the rest of the crowd. They’d talked and danced until Julie couldn’t feel her feet anymore but she realized she didn’t really care. She hadn’t had so much fun in a while.

She eventually took a seat back on the bar, just so she could at least get some water and catch her breath. Soon enough she was joined by Luke who kept pushing his sweaty hair away from his forehead. Julie had put hers up in a ponytail long ago.

"So, help me out here," she said with a smile, "are you first violin by day and rockstar by night?"

"I love superhero movies, can you blame me?" he said, charming smile always in place.

"How did this come to be?" she asked genuinely interested.

"Well, I’ve always loved music and my mom played the violin so I figured I’d start with that and the guitar was a side project that evolved."

"So you’ve been playing for..."

"Twelve years the violin and seven the guitar. And no, I actually do like the violin or else I would have dropped it long ago," he added almost by default.

"I didn’t say anything," Julie said.

"No, I know, but a lot of people are always like 'oh poor you, stuck doing something just cause your mom did'. I try to get ahead of comments like that."

"Well, I started playing the piano when I was five because my mom did and fourteen years later still love it more than anything so you’re explaining yourself to the wrong person here," she said with a smile. Luke smiled back. "Can I ask why though?"

"Why what?" He looked at her as he took a sip from his water too.

"You obviously thrive on the connection you have with the audience, you belong up there," she said, "why keep it a secret?"

Luke gave a bitter laugh at that as he let his glass back on the bar, his mood obviously shifting.

"Oh, I’m sorry," Julie hurried to say, trying to get that smile back. "I crossed a line, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked."

"It’s not that," he said with a sigh. "I mean I know it doesn’t make any sense. It’s just that the future I’m envisioning doesn’t exactly coincide with what my mom is and she’s the one keeping me in school isn’t she?"

"Luke, you’re way too talented to not be there," Julie said, reaching over to put her hand over his on the bar.

He looked at her, the corner of his lips tugging up. "I know I’m good, but someone has to pay the bills and I don’t really have the money. Not that she doesn’t know what I’m planning to do first thing when I’ve graduated but I think she still hopes. And it’s not like I’m giving up on the violin, I don’t think I can to be honest, but can you imagine me sitting still in an orchestra for like, an hour straight? I don’t think that’s physically possible."

Julie chuckled. "Didn’t you play at the concert in the beginning of the semester?"

"I was tapping my foot so much the violas next to me almost messed up the rhythm." He breathed a laugh. "I don’t know, orchestras are not the only path, maybe I can find a way to combine them both."

"I would definitely pay to hear you play like you did three days ago," Julie said being one hundred percent serious. It was different, it was unique and it could definitely evolve into something more.

"Provided you accompany us, I’m in," he said the same casual smile reappearing across his face.

"Well, it was kind of fun," she said with a chuckle. "I’d love to."

"Although I am planning on spending the next two days staring at my notebook until _Bright_ makes more sense to me," he pointed out.

"You just have to fix the harmonies on the chorus and change the key on the bridge," Julie said before she could stop herself and quickly tried to backtrack, "not that I know your song better than you-"

"No, no," Luke cut her off, "you’re right." His whole face was suddenly shining bright again as if he had been hit with an epiphany. "Do you wanna help?"

"With _Bright_?" Julie asked.

"With everything," he answered. "You said you needed a singer to try out your songs and I need help with the writing. Our problems are solving each other!"

Julie hesitated. It wasn’t a bad offer, actually it was a great one and it wasn’t like she’d be expected to sing anyway, she was there for writing. The more she was thinking about it, the more sense it made. If she was in a position to help and Luke was offering to help her as well, what reason did she have to say no?

"Okay," she said after a few seconds, "let’s help each other."

* * *

Summer was in full swing and Julie had suddenly found herself busier than usual. Not that she minded, no, she was living for this. She didn't have deadlines to meet, exams to study for or dry periods where she just had to force the inspiration to come.

Luke was an unstoppable ball of energy that would forget to eat while being on a writing spree if it wasn't for Alex and Reggie. Julie would one hundred percent deny that she could be the same. Flynn would have to argue.

Ever since she'd helped him with _Bright_ , they'd gone through all of Sunset Curve's songs, fixing little details - Julie didn't find the need to point anything out in most of them - getting everything to top shape. She'd sat in in most of their rehearsals while they tried to figure out what worked and what didn't and had even added a few piano chords here and there. She wasn't part of the band, but Luke had insisted he wanted to hear what it sounded like. The result wasn't half bad.

Just as she'd helped them with their songs, so had they with hers. Julie had been writing her whole life, even back when she was too young to know what rhymed with what and what actually sounded good or had any idea about keys and harmonies. She would spend hours in her mom's studio singing her heart out, trying to be the best she could be and her mom was always there encouraging and joining her. She'd help her write, insisting that most of the times it wasn't just musical theory that was going to help her get a good song. It had to come from the heart.

Julie's heart had broken when her mom died in the beginning of her senior year. For the first couple of months she didn't get in the studio. It was one more month until she found the courage to open up the piano lid and actually play something. The one thing she'd always wanted was to study music and she knew if she just went a whole year without touching the piano it was going to cost her. It'd felt weird being there alone, but the melody had helped. This was something that had always been up to her alone, it wasn't weird. 

But then came the singing. And well, even when she'd been alone, she wasn’t really. It'd always been her and her mom, whether it was in the car, screaming lyrics nonsensically with no regard about keys or trying to sound good, or at the studio writing new songs and working the melodies out. She'd tried things on her own, but her mom had still been there so she could show them to her later. Until she wasn't.

Julie had tried to sing after a while, but all it did was bring back memories and remind her how alone she felt. Even when the tears stopped, it was almost as if she couldn't put her heart in it, nothing sounded good. There was something missing, a part of her had fallen out of place and she couldn't fix it. She would hum under her breath from time to time, mostly a reflex, nod her head in the car while Flynn screamed her heart out, but that was it.

And she knew she'd be required to sing again in college. She knew she could choose her classes to avoid the more extreme stuff, but there were a couple of basic classes she'd have to navigate very carefully if she didn't want to be put in the spotlight and asked to perform. She had her piano, she had her writing, she was fine.

And now she also had Luke, Reggie and Alex who always looked so excited to have a new song to try out. They'd helped work out melodies, made certain lyric changes and added harmonies, making Julie think that this was something she could actually do in life. Songwriting. She loved it, there was no question about that and she was good at it. She definitely had a lot of material for future classes in case she needed it.

"Earth to Julie," she suddenly heard and looked up blinking to find Luke looking at her.

"Yes?" she asked, not sure if he'd asked her another question before that.

"You good?" he asked. "You've been staring at your plate for five minutes silent."

"Oh, yeah, I" - she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts - "yeah, sorry, just kind of spaced out I guess," she said and grabbed a fry, taking a bite. 

Today was a special day though. Well, tomorrow was a special day but that would defy the whole purpose. It was Luke's birthday and so they were throwing him a surprise party back at the apartment he shared with the guys. Julie had been the one in charge of keeping him away since Alex and Reggie couldn't lie to save their lives and Carrie and Flynn would have seemed a bit more suspicious. Julie had casually brought up a new song - it was all they'd been talking about for the past month so this was basically routine. They'd met at a diner close to his apartment where she was currently buying everyone else time until they texted her that they were ready. They were already twenty minutes late.

"Did you hear from that last club you were trying to get in?" she asked.

"Not yet," he said, "I mean there’ll be a bunch of new bands and we're literally talking about one song, so maybe it's for the best, I don't know. Don't know how much publicity this is going to get." The conflict on his face was evident, on one hand desperately wanting to go out there and be known and on the other worried that if the band actually started to get recognition it would somehow eventually get back to his mom. Julie really couldn't see how he could keep doing this for the next two years and keep it a secret, but she didn't want to say anything. She knew he was hoping that if someone did give them a chance then he'd actually have something concrete to go to his mother with, but until then he didn't want to risk it any more than they already were.

"I mean it's literally out of town, I don't think you have to worry about that," Julie said, trying to give him some confidence. "Also, you've been pestering them way too much, I think a call is just a matter of time," she added with a smirk.

"Oh gee, thanks." He rolled his eyes with a smile, making her laugh. It'd been so easy with Luke, even from the first second. It was like they talked the same language, like they connected on a different level than with the other guys. Sure, everyone loved music and everyone _knew_ music, but the two of them simply _communicated_ in it. She had an idea and then Luke would take it and bring it ten steps ahead. He'd have a melody stuck in his head and then she had lyrics for the first verse and chorus the next day. It was as weird as it was amazing. Julie found herself wanting to just sing her heart out with him at times, but she was scared of ruining what they had if she couldn't put in the passion she actually felt. So in that front she still remained quiet.

Her cell suddenly lit up with a notification and she glanced at it to notice a thumbs up emoji from Flynn. _Finally_ , she sighed internally.

She let a couple of more minutes pass, making small talk before she decided to change the subject. "So, are we trying this out or what?" she said, nodding at the music sheets on the side of their table.

"You were the one who was hungry," he defended trying - and failing - to sound serious.

"Don't get between me and my music," she said pointing a fry at him.

"I would never," he said and sounded so sincere that Julie faltered for a second. He _understood_ what that meant for her. He didn't know why, but he understood. And sure being a music major came with a passion for music, but it was one thing knowing that someone was interested in the same thing you were and another seeing them working with it. He understood what music meant to her just like he understood what it meant to him.

They paid and started walking back to his apartment, Julie having no itention to actually work on the song today. They would eventually come to it because this was a real song that needed real fleshing out, but as she'd already mentioned, today was special.

They got into the building and in the elevator. Luke pressed the button for the fourth floor and the doors closed. It was a small space and Julie tried to keep herself still and not start grinning like an idiot because they were so close and she couldn't ruin this only a few seconds before they'd walked through the door.

As soon as the doors opened Julie had to physically restrain herself from running up to the door and usher Luke with her so he could finally unlock it.

"Hey, before we go in," Luke started to say as he stopped in front of the door.

"No," Julie blurted out before she could stop herself.

"What?" Luke asked confused.

"What?" Julie echoed, playing dumb. This was going _great_.

"Okay," Luke said moving past it. "I've just wanted to say this for a long time and I don't know whether the guys are home or not."

Julie's breath suddenly hitched in her throat even though she had no idea why. She'd never felt nervous around Luke before.

"I know I'm not always the easiest person to work with so thank you really for everything you've done this past month," he said, smiling at her his usual bright smile that was suddenly making Julie very aware that it was just the two of them out in the hall. "You make me a better writer," he said softly.

Julie couldn't help but smile back. She was vaguely aware that there were people on the other side of the door waiting for them to go in, but she pushed that aside for a few seconds. "I think we make each other better," she said. "And you don't have to thank me for anything, you've helped me just as much if not more."

"Your music needs to be heard."

Julie didn't know what to say. It had never been awkward between them and she wouldn't exactly call this awkward either, but there was something weird in the air. Not necessarily bad weird, no, this was definitely good, but it was still...

The hallway was silent and they were just looking for each other, Julie suddenly realizing how close they were actually standing. She didn't know if something was happening or if it was going to happen had they stayed there longer, but there suddenly came a crash from inside the apartment.

They both snapped their heads to the side and Luke put his key in the lock, finally unlocking the door.

"Careful of the glass!" Alex was saying holding a mop just as they got in. Reggie had a roll of paper in his hands while Flynn and Carrie were gathering broken glass from the floor. The rest of the apartment was nicely decorated, pizzas ordered and on the table, cake on the kitchen counter with the candles already on it and a stack of presents next to the couch.

"Is this a surprise party?" Luke leaned in closer to Julie and asked quietly. The guys still hadn't noticed them.

"Surprise," she said and couldn't help but chuckle in the end. Luke laughed too and then carried on to clear his throat.

Everyone's heads snapped up and they hurried to leave the mess on the floor so they could greet them and wish Luke a happy birthday. Soon enough they were all sitting around, eating pizza and talking over each other about anything and everything. The cake was simply to die for and Julie made a mental note to thank Carrie's brother if she ever met him for baking this for them. He apparently was an art major who just also happened to like baking and Carrie had begged him to make a cake for Luke. Could they maybe keep getting delicious cakes for everyone's birthdays?

It was already too late when things started getting quieter and it just made sense for the girls to stay over. They had two couches, they could make it work. At around 4 am everyone was exhausted enough to be getting ready for bed, unlike Julie who still felt like she had more energy to put into something. Maybe she _should_ go to sleep, but today had been weird and the atmosphere was electrified in some way and the not so subtle questioning looks Flynn kept throwing her were getting harder and harder to ignore.

Flynn and Carrie had settled on one of the couches and Julie had been filling a glass with water when Luke came up next to her. "So, the song?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Julie looked at him confused.

"You wanna work on it?" he asked rocking on the balls of his feet.

"Now? It's 4 am!"

"Yes, but you look like you can't sleep either," he said with a cheeky grin. When had he even learned to read her so well?

"Okay," Julie relented way too easily, "but for like, half an hour, tops."

"Yes, of course." Luke nodded his head in a manner that highly indicated he didn't believe that in the slightest.

"Don't play it cool with me," Julie said pointing a finger a little too close to his face making him chuckle.

"Come on, boss, we only have half an hour." He winked at her as they walked down the hall to Luke's room.

* * *

Julie woke up, blinking against the light that was clearly trying to burn her retinas. No, they hadn't only worked on the song for half an hour. No, she wasn't admitting that Luke was right. Yes, it was definitely after 5:30 when Julie felt her eyes close on their own accord and just went with it, what about it?

She was about to turn around and sleep some more when her pillow _moved_.

Julie froze, suddenly sobering up, all traces of sleep disappearing. She looked around her again and only then noticed how, or better yet _where_ she'd fallen asleep.

The answer? On Luke's bed. 

An even more specific answer? On Luke's _chest_.

What. The. _Fuck_.

Julie's heart was suddenly racing as she quickly tried to assess the situation. Yeah, she needed to get out of there before Luke was awake and this could become awkward.

She moved ever so slowly, praying that Luke was a heavy sleeper and she could actually get away with this. Also, you know, _what the hell was this?_ But then again, why was she freaking out? Luke was a friend, they're friends, they were tired, they fell asleep on top of each other. How many times had she and Flynn fallen asleep on the couch together?

Okay, no, Flynn and Luke were definitely not on the same level.

Oh my God, _oh my God_ , _did she have_ _a crush on Luke?_

_Okay, no, first get out of there, then re-evaluate your life choices._

She held her breath as she finally sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, effectively standing up. Luke didn't wake up, but he did seem to curl in on himself a bit more, as if he was aware that he was now missing something. Someone. Julie smiled softly.

 _No, don't stare at cute sleeping boys_ , she scolded herself and moved to quietly open the door and get out in the hallway.

As soon as the door was once again closed behind her she was finally able to breathe out. She had to talk about this with someone _right now_.

She all but ran into the living room and was relieved to find Flynn and Carrie awake behind the kitchen counter making coffee. Julie sat on one of the chairs on the counter, leaning against it without saying anything.

"Good morning," Carrie said.

"I slept with Luke last night," Julie said.

The reaction was immediate as Flynn spat out the coffee she had just drunk and started coughing violently. Okay, that was Julie's fault, she hadn't realized she was drinking coffee. Also, maybe she hadn’t phrased the situation great.

"No, _slept_ , actual sleep, I fell asleep on his chest or something," Julie said quietly not wanting anyone else to hear.

Flynn was still coughing, trying to clear her throat while Carrie asked, "And that's a bad thing?"

"No, I didn't say that," Julie hurried to say, "but also, you know, what the fuck?"

"Look," Flynn said with a few final coughs, "I figured I'd leave this up to you, but it's been a month and I'm getting tired."

"I think I might have a crush on Luke," Julie said, still on her own little rant.

"Yeah, that," Flynn said, not at all surprised.

"Wait, you knew?" Julie almost shouted. "You've known for this whole month and you didn't tell me? Flynn!" She gave a little whine in the end.

"What did you want me to say? Hey, Jules, have you noticed you're falling for violin boy?"

"I don't know, maybe! This is weird! Isn't this weird?" Julie looked in between them.

Carrie and Flynn shared a glance before turning back to her. "Why?" Carrie asked.

"Because," Julie started to say, but she could find no words to continue her sentence. Wait, _why_ was this weird again?

"Glad we solved that," Flynn said with a nod. "Coffee?"

Julie was sure she was going through some internal crisis that kept going even after the boys had woken up. Luke didn't say anything about last night and Julie wasn't one hundred percent sure if he'd forgotten about since she wasn't there when he'd woken up, or if he just didn't want to make things awkward. Whatever it was, Julie had welcomed it because she still had no idea what she was supposed to do about it.

Did she just come out and ask him out? What if he said no though? Just because she liked him, it didn't mean he liked her back. Well, he did seem like he could like her back... What if it was all in her head though? The connection she'd found with him was way too important to let it get ruined by possible unrequited feelings.

She spent the next two days actually coming to terms with the sudden realization. How had she not seen this earlier? She'd been spending so much time with Luke and the guys, how did she not understand there was something more there? 

Well, they'd mainly been focused on music. But to be honest, that was the main reason they'd gotten so close to each other. And now she had a crush on him. Or she'd had for a while. Yeah. Great.

She groaned with her head in their couch cushion.

"Hey!" Flynn said making her turn her head around to look at her. "Go and ask the boy out!"

"It's not that simple!" Julie whined.

"Why not? You're both obviously so gone for each other. Save yourselves the pining and go kiss each other's faces!" she said and sat down on the couch next to Julie's feet.

"Do you not know me at all?" she asked.

"I just want you to be happy and if Luke makes you happy then I approve," Flynn said.

Julie sighed, turning around to stare at the ceiling. Flynn made it sound so easy. And to be honest it probably was.

Her phone started ringing on the coffee table next to her and she reached for it with a groan. She didn't have the energy to talk to people. 

Looking at the caller ID and seeing it was Luke only worked to make her both happy and nervous. They hadn't really properly talked during the past couple of days and she was quick to find out that she actually missed him. He'd become such a constant in her life, she couldn't just not talk to him.

"Hey," she answered, her voice inadvertently stretching in a smile. Flynn wiggled her eyebrows at her making Julie kick her thigh with her foot. Flynn laughed.

"Hey, where have you been? We haven't talked in so long!" Luke answered. Julie could hear him walking down the street, almost a little breathless.

"We just threw you a surprise party," she said with a chuckle.

"That was three days ago! We left a song unfinished, Julie, that's like- Wrong on so many levels! I loved it, we need it."

"Why so passionate about the song all of a sudden?"

"Okay, first of all, I'm always passionate about songs and _especially_ your songs. Aaand there might be one more reason," he added coyly.

"What happened?" Julie asked now intrigued.

"We got the call!" he shouted.

"From the club?" Julie sat up, suddenly just as excited. "You're in?"

"Yes! And we need a song and that's a great song and if you don't mind I really think you should start getting your songs out there. If you'd be willing to lend us one," he said.

"Are you kidding me? Obviously!" she said, getting up. "I'm so happy for you! But wait, isn't that in a week? Do we have time to finish the song?"

"Of course we do! I'll be home in about ten minutes, should we meet there?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I'll be there," Julie said, ignoring Flynn's raised eyebrow. 

"Great! I'll be waiting," he said and then suddenly Julie had hung up and Flynn was looking at her with a smirk.

"Don't look at me like that," she said, walking to her room to change out of her pyjamas. Sure it was 5 pm, but it was also the middle of the summer and she didn't have anything to do, she could sulk around in comfortable clothing for a while.

"I'm not looking at you like anything," Flynn said from the living room. "I'm just glad you find productive ways to spend your day."

"They called them from the club for that gig. We just need to finish a song so they have something to sing," Julie called out.

"Yeah... If only they had other finished and rehearsed songs they could already go with..." she said.

"Shut up," Julie said and was only met with more laughter.

She quickly got ready and grabbed her notebook, filled with all the notes she and Luke had made on the song. It wasn't a crime that Luke liked the song and wanted the band to perform it for the club. They had sung a lot of her songs and repeatedly praised her writing skills, this was normal. There was no reason for her heart to beat faster every time she thought about it. She could have her crush on Luke in peace while they worked on this.

Okay, maybe she was wrong about that.

Julie was suddenly hyperaware of every little thing that Luke did when it came to her. How he shifted closer to her on the couch, how his hand would brush over hers sometimes, how he smiled at her when they'd have a breakthrough and looked at her only a couple seconds longer when he thought she wasn't looking. Was this new or had he actually been doing all those things for a while now?

"Okay, where are the guys? We need to see if this actually sounds nice," Julie said after a couple of hours of working on the song. It seemed finished even though she still felt like there was something missing, but she couldn't really pinpoint it and especially not if she hadn't heard the song out loud at least once.

"They said they'd be here in an hour," Luke said from where he was sitting on the couch, fiddling with something in his bow.

"That was an hour and a half ago," Julie deadpanned.

"They'll be here because they know if they won’t, I'm never gonna speak to them again," Luke said. "Although Alex did seem intrigued by the idea..." Julie chuckled.

Luke's violin was on the coffee table in front of them inside its open case. Julie reached over and plucked a string lightly always amazed by the fact that there were people out there that could actually make this thing sound magical. One of them sitting beside her on the couch.

"You wanna play?" Luke looked at her with an amused smile.

"I don't think anyone wants that." Julie laughed. "You know, I tried a couple of times but it was painful. A baby started crying next door."

Luke threw back his head laughing, causing something warm to spead on Julie's chest. "You have to give it some time..."

"To sound decent, yeah, I know," Julie said with a nod. "I didn't have that kind of patience. Actually how did _you_ have that kind of patience?" she asked with raised eyebrow. 

"I wasn't patient, I was stubborn," he pointed out.

"Yeah, okay, that makes sense," Julie agreed making them both laugh again. "I don't know... I mean piano can sound nice even when you first give it a try. It won't be great, but if you try to follow a music sheet it will provide more that just _noise_."

"Okay, come on," he said and got up.

"What?" Julie asked confused.

"Come on," Luke insisted with a smile, his eyes sparkling.

Julie got up just as he took the violin out of the case and handed it to her. She took it carefully - those things were expensive to replace - and looked at him questioningly. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You are supposed to stand up straight and put it under your chin," he said.

"You trust me with this?" she asked in disbelief.

"Don't you trust me with a piano?"

"No, I don't, you jumped on one last week and sat on it," she said making him chuckle, but she still moved to fix her posture and place the violin where she thought it had to be. "Is this right?"

"Here, let me help," he said and moved behind her, his right hand fixing the violin on its correct place. He put his left hand over hers were she was holding the violin by the neck and moved it slightly further down to have better access at the strings. Julie was ninety percent sure she wasn't breathing anymore.

"And then," Luke suddenly said, making her blink - and thank God he was standing behind her and couldn't see her face - and handed her the bow.

Julie took it, her hand shaking only so lightly and gripped it tight to make sure it stopped. "Do I just begin to make noise?" she asked, her voice coming out a bit quieter than she would have liked. She was well aware of how Luke's left hand hadn't left hers.

She was also well aware of how her heart skipped a beat when he caught her other hand as well, placing the bow over the strings. "Now you just," he started to say and then moved both of Julie's hands over the violin. It didn't sound great, definitely not what it would have sounded like if Luke had full control over it, but Julie was still technically holding a violin and kind of playing and she didn't want to cry about it.

She quickly realized the melody was _Bright_ , granted a much slower and careful version, but very much the same _Bright_ that she'd helped fix. Julie followed Luke's movements, moving her hands and fingers the way he was leading her to, losing herself in the melody. She'd leaned into him, her back pressed to his chest, forgetting where they were and what they'd been doing. She loved a lot of instruments but after the piano, she really had a soft spot for the violin. She loved the way it sounded, how it could be as strong and vibrant as it had been when she'd heard Luke playing The Phantom of the Opera, but also soft and peaceful like it was right now.

" _Life is a risk, but I will take it, close my eyes and jump..._ " Julie sang albeit quietly, not even registering the lyrics spilling out.

Her eyes widened at the same time the music stopped. She froze. _Don't say anything, don't say anything-_

"Did you just-" Luke started to say, but Julie hurried to cut him off.

"No," she said. Okay, that was dumb, he'd been standing right there, of course he'd heard her.

She lowered the violin back down as Luke let go of her and turned to look at her. "You never sing," he said.

"I told you I don't," she said.

"But that was nice," he insisted.

"You didn't even hear anything, I whispered," Julie turned defensive as she let the violin and bow back down on the coffee table.

"I can still tell the difference between a good voice and being out of tune," he said, looking at her confused.

"Can't we just leave it to 'I don't'? I play the piano, I write songs, I _don't_ sing," she emphasized. Of course she loved singing. Of course she'd imagined what it'd be like singing with Luke and the guys every time they had a rehearsal and she was suggesting they change something or she gave them a new song to try out. But she was scared. She was scared she'd lost the passion for it. And now... She hadn't even realized the words had come out, everything had felt natural. Maybe, _maybe_ , she could work her way back to it.

But _right_ now? She was just scared by the force with which it had hit her. She was scared because she hadn't done that in a long time. So she was getting defensive.

"But you _must_ have a nice voice and you're already studying music, isn't this perfect for you?" Luke asked again.

"Can we just drop it?" she said, her voice coming out a bit harsher than she'd intended it to.

Luke looked taken aback, not expecting her to snap like that. Julie turned around with a sigh, looking away from him and trying to regain her composure. When she realized she couldn't just go back to the casualness they'd had only a few moments ago, she reached for her phone on the couch.

"I think I'm gonna go," she said, "the song is mostly finished, you can work each part separately with the guys."

"Julie-" Luke followed her as she walked towards the door.

"No, it's okay, it's fine," she said, her tone indicating that it was very much not fine, "we'll talk, okay?"

And with that she left.

Julie walked down the street thinking how could she have gone through such an emotional rollecoaster in just ten minutes time, maybe even less. Everything was fine, yes, she was realizing stuff, but things between her and Luke were casual and comfortable like they always were and that was great, she could work with that.

And then the whole violin situation? Julie had forgotten how to breathe for a few seconds. It'd felt right, all of it had felt right, from them holding hands to playing music together and getting lost in their own little world together and even maybe singing together? If Julie had felt that much comfortable and safe to actually start singing on her own accord without even pushing herself into it... how could it not be from the heart?

She climbed up the stairs to her apartment, closing the door behind her and standing in the middle of the living room. She remembered Flynn saying that she'd be out with Carrie later, Julie was supposed to still be with the guys too.

She walked into her room, opening one of her desk drawers and taking out a stack of papers each of them filled with chords and lyrics. She left them on top of her desk, staring at them for a couple of minutes. They stared back, waiting to be used. She hadn't gone through most of them in so long, she wasn't even one hundred percent sure what was in there. Well, she had a general idea.

She took a deep breath, her hand only slightly shaking as she leaned forward and grabbed the top sheet. It was a good choice because the words alone made her smile. She'd written that song for Flynn during their sophomore year back in high school. Flynn had always been there for her no matter what ever since they were six and Julie had a lot of feelings and the best way she knew how to express them was through song. so she'd put everything down on paper, worked out the melody and dedicated it to Flynn in a little concert their school put up in the end of each semester. If she wasn't going to write her best friend a song, who was she going to write one for?

She started drumming the rhythm on her desk, her eyes going down the pages and looking at all the notes she'd made - scratching certain notes out, adding little changes until she got it where she wanted it.

" _My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo..._ " she sang quietly, testing the waters as she kept the tapping going. She really hadn't sung in a year and a half... It's not like she'd forgotten how to do it, she didn't think that was possible, but she needed to ease into it.

She took another shaky breath as she kept going through the papers. Years and years of songs she'd finished or had tried to, lyrics and melodies, sometimes missing one of the two, she'd taken everything she thought had some kind of potential with her because it was never too late.

Old lyrics started going through her head, humming, singing a line or two here and there... She was close to something, she could feel it.

And then she reached the bottom of the pile. She took the last music sheet and looked at it. It was the last song her mom had ever written and it'd been for her. She knew she was sick and after a while she'd known she wasn't going to make it. So she'd taken her time writing this song for Julie to make sure she remembered that yes, it was going to hurt and it would be painful and some days it would just feel _impossible_ , but in the end, she was going to be okay.

Julie had never sung this song. She knew the melody by heart, had gone over it so many times, played it on repeat, her eyes blurring with tears, but she'd never actually sung it.

She looked at the sheet and turned around to her keyboard on the other side of the room. This was a song that had been written specifically for her, to be sung by her. If she was going to try and get back into this it was probably the best way to do it.

She got up and walked over, sitting down on the stool in front of the keyboard. She put the sheet on the stand even though it wasn't really needed and put her fingers over the keys. Her hands were sweaty and she could feel her heartbeat picking up, but she wasn't about to back away. Not now.

She started playing the intro, a melody she knew too well. It was when she moved to the first verse that things changed.

" _Here's one thing I want you to know, you got someplace to go..."_ she started out timidly, her voice a little shaky. " _Life's a test, yes, but you go toe-to-toe, you don't give up, no, you grow..._ " she continued, pushing through the nerves. It was just her and her keyboard. She got into the pre-chorus with a bit more confidence than before.

" _And you use your pain  
'Cause it makes you "you"  
Though I wish I could hold you through it  
I know it's not the same  
You got living to do  
And I just want you to do it  
So get up, get out, relight that spark  
You know the rest by heart..."_

She smiled as she effortlessly moved to the chorus.

_"Wake up, wake up if it's all you do  
Look out, look inside of you  
It's not what you lost  
It's what you'll gain raising your voice in the rain  
Wake up your dream and make it true  
Look out, look inside of you  
It's not what you lost  
Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark  
Wake up, wake up..."  
_

Julie gasped, her eyes watering. It wasn't from pain this time though, it didn't hurt. It was almost liberating.

_"Better wake those demons  
Just look them in the eye  
No reason not to try  
Life can be a mess  
I won't let it cloud my mind  
I'll let my fingers fly..."_

She smiled as her voice gained more passion, getting louder.

_"And I use the pain 'cause it's part of me  
And I'm ready to power through it  
Gonna find the strength, find the melody  
'Cause you showed me how to do it  
Get up, get out, relight that spark  
You know the rest by heart..._

_Wake up, wake up if it's all you do  
Look out, look inside of you  
It's not what you lost  
It's what you'll gain raising your voice in the rain  
Wake up your dream and make it true  
Look out, look inside of you  
It's not what you lost  
Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark  
Wake up, wake up..."_

She was pushing the keys with so much fervency, she wished she had a piano in front of her. 

_"So wake that spirit, spirit  
I wanna hear it, hear it  
No need to fear it, you're not alone  
You're gonna find your way, oh..._

_Wake up, wake up if it's all you do  
Look out, look inside of you  
It's not what you lost  
It's what you'll gain raising your voice in the rain  
Wake up your dream and make it true  
Look out, look inside of you  
When you feel lost  
Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark  
Wake up  
Wake up..."  
_

She played the last few notes, easing on the keys and finally sitting back. She wasn't sure how she felt. There were so many things going through her head, all the lyrics she'd denied herself all this time and this one song she'd kept with her for so long and never dared sing it. She suddenly wanted more. Flynn would probably not be home for a while, she had the time and she had so, _so_ many songs she could try out.

She placed her hands on the keys again.

* * *

The first thing she'd done when she'd woken up next morning was call Luke who had started profusely apologizing before she could even say hi. She'd tried to reassure him that she was okay, that _they_ were okay and had promised to go over there later to work on the song. He didn't ask anything about her freak out and she didn't want to say anything just yet. Maybe after the gig was over. She had a lot of things she wanted to say after the gig was over.

She hadn't told Flynn anything either yet. She just wanted to keep it to herself for a few days until she was ready to share it with people.

She found herself getting excited for the guys' performance. Maybe it was because it was her song, or they'd just gotten so close with each other. They'd been rehearsing non stop, knowing how much more pressure rested on them since they only had one song to prove themselves, but Julie really didn't doubt them for a second. And sure Luke was getting a bit extreme wanting them to be ready for anything and spending hours and hours going through a lot of songs and not just the one, but Julie couldn't really blame him. He was probably just as nervous as everyone else. Adding to that the fact that this could actually mean something for them and it could be enough to help him talk to his mom... It was a lot.

But then the day was getting closer and Julie could see him pushing himself more than he should. It wasn't until the guys begged her to talk to him because he wouldn't listen to them that she realized this was worse than she'd originally thought.

She arrived over at their apartment at 9:30 pm ready for chaos, only to be greeted by Alex who seemed to be alone. She walked in the living room and noted the silence all around them.

"You said it was an emergency!" she said.

"Luke and Reg went to get pizzas because if Luke stayed in here a second longer he was gonna explode," Alex explained.

"Is it really that bad?" Julie asked as she sat on the couch.

"It's just weird," he said with a sigh, coming to sit beside her. "The whole thing with Emily's not really helping..."

"She wouldn't..." Julie started to say, but hesitated. "I mean, would she really cut him off because of the band?"

Alex sighed, a hand going over his face. "It's not exactly like that... Emily is trying to look out for him but they're both so stubborn, it's a family thing," he added with a small smile. "They would get in a fight and things could escalate and I mean even with the discount he gets for being her son, it's still money he doesn't have. She loves Luke, I know she does. She would go back on it after a few days, but he doesn't want to risk it. And I mean I get it, not all parents are supportive of their children," he said, his expression shifting to something different. Julie didn't think it was her place to ask.

"But if you have something concrete..." she said.

"Then it'd be proof that this can go somewhere. She knows he's talented, she's just worried for his future," Alex said. "So now he's going crazy. Please do something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, you two have a language of your own, he will listen to you," he said, confident.

Before Julie could dispute said fact, they heard someone unlocking the door and Luke and Reggie came in, holding two pizza boxes.

"Julie?" Luke was confused to see her there which was enough to make her understand that they hadn't let him know about her arrival.

"She came to eat pizza," Alex said, making her turn to him with a deadpan look. Was that supposed to be believable?

"What?" Luke asked.

"Flynn is out with Carrie and I wanted company," she said, even though Flynn was back home watching Netflix, "unless I'm intruding."

"No!" Luke hurried to say. "No, it's great, hi!"

"Hi," Julie said with a chuckle as they all sat down and started eating. She actually hadn't had dinner yet, so it'd worked out great for her.

They were eating and talking, everything seemingly casual, but Julie could feel the stress rolling off of Luke next to her on the couch. He was tapping his foot, not able to stay still, even if he didn't bring any attention to it. It wasn't until a couple of hours later that Alex and Reggie gathered the boxes and napkins and both looked at Julie and subtly pointed at Luke, making her roll her eyes and shoo them away. They left everything at the kitchen counter and headed down the hallway throwing some excuses around that overlapped with each other and made no sense.

"You're ready for Saturday?" she asked, trying to ease into the subject.

Luke cleared his throat. "Yeah, of course, I mean we still need to rehearse obviously, but it's going to be fine."

"Well, tomorrow's your last day so maybe you just need to take it easy."

"No, tomorrow we need to make sure that everything's ready," he said, "we can't just go in like that."

"You've been rehearsing for a week non stop. I can guarantee you'll be way more prepared than everyone else there," she said with a smile, not even lying to him. She definitely believed they had gone the extra mile about it.

"Well, we shouldn't really risk it," he said, clearing his throat again.

"You want some tea?" she asked.

"Tea?"

"You need your voice if you're going to sing on Saturday."

Luke eventually relented and got up to make some tea, bringing some to Julie as well. That was a good start, maybe she was getting through to him.

"You know," she started, "I found some of my older songs. A lot of them are unfinished."

"Is this an invitation?" Luke asked, taking a sip.

"More of a collaboration proposal," she said with a chuckle. "I think we can try some new things."

"Like what?" He looked at her intrigued. 

_Like a duet?_

"I'll bring you the songs after Saturday, we can talk about them," she said. Small steps. She'd been singing alone, maybe she could join more people. "And don't worry, you're gonna be great." She smiled as she looked at him. "Your song is great, to start with," she added with a smirk.

"I don't know why you're smirking, I think you're amazing too," Luke said nonchalantly.

Julie looked down at her tea, hoping enough of her curls were falling in front of her face, concealing her blush. "Luke Patterson, handing out compliments every chance he gets."

"It's not my fault you deserve them," he said with a little shrug.

There was a little voice in the back of Julie's head, screaming at her - it vaguely sounded like Flynn - to do or at least say something. And she seriously thought about it but then Luke was taking another sip of tea and then he was yawning and she could see how tired he actually was. Today was not the day.

"You're tired, I should go," she said softly, leaving her mug on the coffee table.

"No, don't leave." Luke's hand shot out to catch her wrist. Julie looked back at him with a fond expression, but tried to remain serious.

"Luke, you need to sleep," she said.

"No," he said again stubbornly, almost pouting and he proceeded to lie down with his head on her lap. "See? I'm lying down."

"You know I can just get up, right?" she said, looking down at him.

"You wouldn't do that to me, I'm sleeping," Luke said and promptly went ahead to close his eyes.

"So, threatening to leave is the only way to get you to go to sleep, huh?" she wondered out loud.

"I like hanging out with you, Jules." He opened his eyes and looked up at her with a smile.

She smiled back. "I like hanging out with you too."

Luke was still looking at her, as if studying her face. She thought she noticed him glancing at her lips and she tried really hard not to grin or really bring any attention to her face. He suddenly turned away from her, coughing into his elbow. Julie looked at him worried, she really didn't want this to escalate in the next few days, it would crush him if he couldn't sing on Saturday.

Her hand found its way through his hair trying to be somewhat soothing. Luke stopped coughing and eventually breathed out, leaning into her touch. Julie didn't talk, hoping if it was silent enough, maybe he'd stop fighting it and actually fall asleep. It all seemed to work out when a few seconds later his breathing evened out and she leaned back on the couch with a sigh. Her hand was still going through his hair and she couldn't help but smile at him. She didn't feel weird or uncomfortable. No, if anything this felt very much like where she wanted to be. And Luke didn't seem to mind either.

* * *

"The place is packed tight," Flynn said as she looked around.

It was true. There were a lot of bands playing tonight and if each of them had told a few friends it would be enough to get a huge crowd. Julie, Flynn and Carrie were standing close to the stage having gotten there early to make sure they weren't pushed somewhere in the back. 

"Hey, have you heard from the guys? I've been trying to reach them for a while..." Julie said, looking at the unanswered texts on her phone. At first she thought they were rushing to get there and be ready but now she was starting to get worried.

"No, I couldn't find Alex either," Carrie said. "They’re probably just nervous."

"Yeah..." Julie trailed off. Something didn't feel right. "I'm gonna go see if I can find them, okay?"

"Don't be late, this starts in a few minutes," Flynn said.

"Okay," Julie agreed and pushed her way through the crowd, trying to get back out. As soon as she'd made it, she took her phone out again, calling Luke. She got no answer. She moved on to call Alex and Reggie too, still getting no response. She was actually starting to get scared something bad might have happened when her phone rang and she immediately answered seeing Reggie's number.

"Are you guys alive? What's going on?" she asked.

"Are you here?" Reggie asked, moving past the actual question.

"Yeah, I was inside with Flynn and Carrie and came out to see if I could actually find you! Why haven't you answered any of my texts and calls?"

"Can you come around to the back? I'm here, I can get you in," he said.

"Reggie, what is going on? You're scaring me," she said, walking around the back of the club and seeing a lot of people standing around, most of them probably waiting for one of the bands so they could get a picture or autograph. 

She noticed Reggie standing behind a couple of guys who were trying to separate the fans from the actual building and quickly walked over. She heard Reggie saying to one of the guys that she was with him and they let her through, both of them ducking back into the building.

"Something bad happened," he said as they were walking down the hallway past random people either working there or about to go on and play. "We thought we could fix it, but apparently we couldn't and now everything's falling apart and we don't know what to do and maybe you do? I don't know. We've exhausted any other possibility."

"What happened?" she asked again, her voice shaky. What could have been so bad-

Reggie opened one of the doors and Julie immediately spotted Luke and Alex sitting on one of the couches on the side. Alex was telling him something while Luke was rubbing a hand over his face looking like he was done with the world.

"What is going on?" Julie demanded as she walked up to them. They both snapped around to look at her, Luke looking even more crushed.

"We have to back out," Alex said.

"What? Why?"

"Because we have no lead singer."

Julie looked at him, her eyebrows furrowing as she turned to Luke who still looked miserable. And hadn't said a word.

"Oh my God, you _can't_ talk," she said, sitting down beside him. It had started as a little cough and Julie had hoped if he didn't strain his voice yesterday he'd be fine today but it'd obviously not worked.

"We've gone through every possible solution, but the fact still stands, we can't keep the leading voice _and_ vocals, I don't even have the same range as you guys and all the songs require more than two people so it's not like we can change songs and I don't-"

"Alex, you need to breathe," Reggie said.

Luke had taken his phone out, typing furiously when Julie's phone ringed with a new notification. She opened it up to see a text from Luke.

**No, really, if anything this is all my fault for going overboard once again and destroying the one good thing that we managed to get after so long.**

Julie looked back at him. "Don't say that," she said. It wasn't his fault, Luke would do anything to make this work, she knew how important it was to him.

They suddenly heard applause from outside. The first band must have gone on.

"We need to decide what we're going to do, we're supposed to go on third," Reggie said.

Dejection had settled in Luke's face while Alex and Reggie looked just as disappointed to have a great opportunity slip between their fingers. This wan't fair, they'd been trying for so long, they deserved to go out there just as much as anyone else. They'd been rehearsing non stop to get this right and they'd gotten her song down perfectly. And how were they rewarded? How was Luke rewarded for just wanting to sound good and connect with the audience? He had his guitar and that was great, but they couldn't do anything without...

A lead singer.

Was she really considering this?

Taking another look at the guys in front of her was enough to say that yes, she was.

"I'll do it," she said.

"Do what?" Reggie asked as they all turned to look at her.

"I'll be your lead singer for today."

Alex and Reggie looked at each other confused, but Luke was only staring at her, his eyes slightly wide and concerned. She couldn’t really blame him after how she’d freaked out a few days ago.

"But you said you didn’t sing," Reggie said at the same time Alex said, "We’ve never heard you sing."

"I don’t, but there have been some developments lately and anyway, you need someone to sing for you."

Her cell rang.

**You don’t have to do this.**

She looked at Luke who appeared very adamant and even though would give anything to be able to go up there, he still didn’t want her to do something she so obviously had run away from a few days ago.

"I know I don’t have to, but you worked so hard for this and we can’t let it go to waste," she said as she got up determined. She had no idea where she was getting the confidence from, this was a huge leap compared to the baby steps she’d been taking. There was a very high possibility she couldn’t do this. Let’s not think about that right now.

"I know I’m not Luke, but I can hit a few notes," she tried to lighten up the mood. Luke rolled his eyes from the couch, probably still convinced that she did have a nice voice, while Alex and Reggie seemed ready to jump in with her. "We just need a higher key and all of you to keep doing what you’ve been doing in every rehearsal. I wrote the song, I know how it goes."

Another text came.

**And you won’t run away after it?**

Julie smiled slightly. "No, I think we might have to talk after it..."

The boys didn’t question it anymore, already scrambling to get ready because the first band was done and their performance was only four minutes away.

Julie kept pacing behind the stage as they heard the band before them sing, already feeling like she was gonna screw up. Flynn had been looking for her and she’d texted back that she’d see her in a minute, hadn’t really specified where she was gonna be, but she would definitely be in the area.

She couldn’t screw this up. She’d just promised the guys she was gonna help them and they counted on her, she couldn’t just go up there and choke. But then again she’d only sung alone in the safety of her own room and this was who knows how many people and she was going to be the lead singer, right in the front, so many eyes on her and yes she had just started finding her voice again, but what if it wasn’t enough?

"Julie," she heard a hoarse voice that was followed by coughing and turned around to see Luke behind her.

"Don't try to talk, you don’t want to ruin your voice," she said.

Luke shook his head and took his phone out again.

**I don’t know what has happened, but if you don’t want to do this we'll back out in a heartbeat.**

**For what it’s worth though, I think once you’re up there you’re gonna kill it.**

Julie smiled. "You don’t even know if I have a good voice," she said.

Luke rolled his eyes as he typed.

**I know you’re amazing, does that count?**

She laughed, her expression softening as she looked at him. "I know you’re amazing too, Luke Patterson," she said.

They looked at each other for a few seconds and Luke had only started writing something down when they heard the applause outside and it was their turn to go out there.

Julie could feel the nerves coming back as they lined up to get on stage. She had sung in front of many people before back in high school, but that felt like forever ago now.

There was suddenly a hand squeezing her shoulder and she turned to her side to see Luke looking at her with a smile. _You got this_ , he mouthed. He blindly trusted her even though there was no way to actually know whether he could or not. If he had so much faith in her why couldn’t she trust herself too to find her way out there?

She stepped on stage, moving in the front to take her place in front of the mic. She momentarily turned back to look at the guys who all had matching expressions of confidence, urging her to take a deep breath and focus.

She got this.

_"Running from the past  
Tripping on the now  
What is lost can be found, it's obvious..." _

She hesitantly sang into the microphone, trying to get accustomed to the feeling.

_"And like a rubber ball  
We come bouncing back  
We all got a second act, inside of us..."_

She heard a particularly loud cheer from the crowd and smiled recognizing Flynn amidst everyone. Of course she was gonna be the loudest.

_"I believe  
I believe that we're just one dream  
Away from who we're meant to be  
That we're standing on the edge of  
Something big, something crazy  
Our best days are yet unknown  
That this moment is ours to own  
_ _'Cause we're standing on the edge of great!"_

Alex and Reggie provided the vocals and she just leaned into it, giving herself the chance to get lost into her own little world for a few minutes even if she was now sharing it with so many other people. She had the guys on her side to back her up.

_"'Cause we're standing on the edge of great  
_ _We all make mistakes  
_ _But they're just stepping stones  
_ _To take us where we wanna go  
_ _It's never straight, no..."_

She turned to Luke who was staring straight at her, a huge grin on his face and she couldn’t help but grin too as she approached him.

_"Sometimes we gotta lean  
Lean on someone else  
To get a little help  
Until we find our way... _

_I believe  
I believe that we're just one dream  
Away from who we're meant to be  
That we're standing on the edge of  
Something big, something crazy  
Our best days are yet unknown  
That this moment is ours to own  
_ _'Cause we're standing on the edge of great!"_

Julie was suddenly feeling at the top of the world, hearing the guys play and singing with her. The people were cheering them on, loving them and the connection Julie felt with the audience was something she never wanted to let go.

_"Shout, shout  
C'mon and let it out, out  
Don't gotta hide it  
Let your colors blind their eyes  
Be who you are, no compromise_

_Just shout, shout  
C'mon and let it out, out  
What doesn't kill you makes you feel alive, oh..."_

Julie’s voice softened as she sang the next lines. _  
_

_"I believe..."_

There was suddenly a guitar accompanying her and she turned to see Luke, getting closer. They hadn’t talked about this and she didn’t know if he’d been planning it, but it still made Julie smile. 

_"I believe that we're just one dream  
Away from who we're meant to be  
That we're standing on the edge of great!"_

She belted out the last note with so much power she almost surprised herself. The guys kept the chorus going and she was quick to join.

_"That this moment is ours to own  
_ _'Cause we're standing on the edge of great..."_

_"On the edge of great."_

_"On the edge of great."_

_"Great, on the edge of great."_

_"On the edge."_

_"Great, on the edge of great."_

_"'Cause we're standing on the edge of-"_

Everything suddenly went quiet and she was only left with the sound of Luke's guitar. She turned to her side, almost as if singing the lyrics to him.

_"Running from the past_  
_Tripping on the now  
What is lost can be found, it's obvious..."_

The whole club erupted in cheers. Julie chuckled as she turned around to look at everyone, waving at Flynn who was still trying to be the loudest and probably had a lot of questions. She and the guys took a bow and before she knew it they were picking up their instruments and were getting down from the stage.

"So, Jules, any secret talents you want to share with the group?" Alex asked.

"I think that went pretty well," she said.

"Pretty well? They loved us! They loved you!" Reggie said still jumping up and down.

**You have the voice of an angel** , came a text from Luke who seemed like he wanted to scream but it would be heavily advised against.

"You were incredible," Alex agreed. "I can’t believe we hadn't heard you sing all this time."

"That was kind of intentional?" Julie said. "It just only worked to bring up bad memories so I’d given up on it altogether. Things kind of changed this past month..." she said with a chuckle.

"Thank you for this!" Reggie said, pointing at the general direction of the stage. "Should we go look for the girls? We can’t stay here, I need to move."

Julie laughed as they all started walking to the main area, although Reggie and Alex were several feet ahead of them, giving Julie and Luke the chance to 'talk'.

**I’m sorry about the other day.**

"Luke, I told you, it’s okay. If anything it was the reason I started singing again, I should be thanking you," she said.

**Please never stop again. You are _extremely_ talented.  
**

Julie was blushing through her smile.

**You blush easily.**

"What? No, I don’t!" Julie tried to defend herself even though she was pretty sure she wasn’t doing a good job.

**Yes, you do. Every time you get compliments.**

"From you maybe," Julie retaliated her brain catching up with her mouth only a second too late.

Luke's smile was still present, turning into a smirk as he looked at her.

**This is an interesting little relationship you and I have.**

Julie didn’t know if she should laugh or just keep blushing. Then again she had just sung for the first time in so long in front of so many people and really, if she could do that, how could she be scared of doing anything else?

"Hey, Luke," she suddenly said, stopping in the side of the room, just before they could get back into the club. Luke looked at her expectantly, showing her she had his full attention. "Do you want to go out with me?"

Luke looked at her for a second more.

**Out? Like a date?**

Julie chuckled. "Yeah. Movie, food, something more creative, I don’t have that part figured out yet, I just... I really like you, Luke."

Luke's face broke into a grin again, making her smile too. She couldn’t really help it, Luke’s happiness was always so vibrant and so _there_ , it was contagious.

He opened his mouth about to say something only to remember he couldn’t and huffed frustrated as he turned back to his phone.

Julie breathed out a laugh as she put her hand over his on the screen, stopping him. He looked up to her.

"You like me too?" she asked with a smile.

Luke nodded his head eagerly, taking a step closer as if to punctuate how honest he was being about this.

"I’ll take that as a yes," Julie said quietly as they were standing inches away from each other. She glanced at his lips and it really wasn’t hard to see that he was thinking about the same thing. She looked at her as if searching for permission and Julie ever so slightly nodded before they both leaned in, their lips meeting in the middle.

Julie wanted to shout. She wanted to grab a mic and sing for two hours straight because so many things had happened in such little time and she suddenly had so much energy she didn’t know what to do with it.

Well, for the time being she was happy staying there kissing Luke.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo this is gonna be a three part series. First part was about Julie/Luke, second will be about Alex/Willie and third about Reggie/Bobby!
> 
> Thank you for reading!!☺️


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